Greatest American League
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The 2009 Yankees won four of their six games against the 1977 Yankees to improve their record to 19-11. The '77 Yankees dropped to 46-74.
This series had a little bit of everything. C.C. Sabathia shut down the '77 Yankees in Game One with a four-hit shutout in a 3-0 win. Game Two was drunk. The '77 Yankees scored six runs in the first. The 2K9 Yankees came back with five in the second, capped off by a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez. A Rod later hit another homerun and a bases-clearing triple on his way to a 12-9 win. A Rod’s final statline: 4-4, 2 homeruns, a triple, and nine RBI! Dave Kingman led the '77 Yankees to their first win in the series in Game Three 5-4 with a homerun and four RBI. The 2K9 Yankees picked up a couple of dramatic wins in Games Four and Five. Hideki Matsui hit two homeruns and Mark Teixeira hit a go-ahead two run dinger in the 7th inning for a 6-4 win. Mariano Rivera pitched out of a bases-loaded nobody out jam in the 9th by striking out the side. After Chris Chambliss gave the '77 Yankees a 2-1 lead in the 9th off Rivera with a RBI single, the 2K9 Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a RBI double by Johnny Damon. Backup catcher Francisco Cervilli hit a walk-off double in the 10th to give them a 3-2 win. It was a hard luck outing for Sparky Lyle who blew the save and lost the game on two unearned runs. The '77 Yankees won the final game 10-0. Ed Figeuroa pitched a three hit shutout while Thurman Munson 4-5 at the plate with a triple and four RBI.
Derek Jeter leads the 2K9 in both hitting (.309) and homeruns (9). A Rod only had one hit and RBI in the other five games of the series that wasn’t his monster 9 RBI day. Still, he is hitting .296 with 28 RBI, to lead the team along with Jorge Posada. Sabathia reduced his ERA to 2.81 while raising his record to 4-3. Rivera is 2-0 with six saves in nine appearances with a 1.73 ERA. Reggie Jackson’s average dropped to .292 with 31 homeruns, still team bests. Munson took over the team lead in RBI with 76 while hitting .276 and 16 homeruns. Kingman is hitting .277 with 11 homeruns in 100 plate appearances. Figueroa’s shutout reduced his ERA to 4.75 while improving his record to 6-16. The '77 Yankees will battle with the 1996 Yankees in the next series.
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In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the 1977 Yankees dominated their series with th 1996 Yankees, winning five of six games. The '77 Yankees improved their record to 51-75 while the '96 Yankees dropped to 13-11.
The offense was humming for the '77 Yankees as they scored 42 runs in their five wins. After trailing 4-1 in four innings of Game One, they came back to win 6-4 thanks to Reggie Jackson’s go-ahead two run homer off Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning. Mickey Rivers was 4-4 at the plate in Game Two with a homerun and five runs scored in a 13-5 pounding. The only win for the '96 Yankees came in Game Four. The game was scoreless until the 8th when they scored three runs after a two out error by Bucky Dent, including a two-run dinger by Paul O’Neill. The final two games were full of drama. The '77 Yankees won Game Five 7-6, a game that changed leads five times. They victimized '96 Yankee closer John Wetteland in the 9th with two runs, back-to-back doubles by Willie Randolph and Dent and Jackson beating out an attempted double play that scored Dent. In Game Six, the lead changed hands only four times. Jackson hit a two-run homer in the 7th to give them a 7-6 lead on their way to an 8-6 win. Roy White went 3-4 with a homerun, a stolen base, three RBI, and three runs scored.
Jackson had a strange series; his average dropped seven more points to .285 but he had key plate appearances that led to three wins. He upped his homerun total to 33 and leads the team in runs scored with 84. Thurman Munson leads the team in RBI with 83 while hitting .277 and 17 homeruns. Dave Kingman hit two more homeruns in this series to give him 13 in 109 at bats and raise his OPS to 1.013. Ken Holtzman reduced his ERA to 3.99, only the second starting pitcher with an ERA under 4; Ron Guidry (3.75) is the other.
Derek Jeter leads the '96 Yankees in hitting at .318. Mariano Duncan is hitting .308 and leads the team in RBI with 17. Bernie Williams is hitting .278 and leads the team in homeruns with eight. Dwight Gooden and David Cone remain undefeated; each are 2-0. Rivera and Wetteland both have two losses early in their play-in season. The '96 Yankees will play the 28-38 1952 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1952 Yankees and 1996 Yankees split their six game series with the road team winning every game. The '52 Yankees remained 10 games under .500 at 31-41 while the '96 Yankees stayed two games over .500 at 16-14.
The '52 Yankees won the first three games of the series 7-2. 14-1 and 3-2. Every player scored or drove in a run in Game Two. The '96 Yankees won the final three games, starting with a dramatic 7-5 Game Four victory. Darryl Strawberry broke a 5-5 tie in the 9th inning with a two-out two-run single.
Mickey Mantle leads the '52 Yankees in hitting at .312 with 10 homeruns, 52 RBI, and 52 runs scored. Yogi Berra leads the team in runs scored with 55 despite hitting just .229. Joe Collins is hitting .271 while leading the team in homeruns (16) and RBI (66). Allie Reynolds continued his amazing season with his 11th win (against two losses) with a 2.68 ERA.
Derek Jeter leads the ‘96 Yankees in hitting at .308. Bernie Williams’ average dropped 11 points to .267 but hit his 9th homerun and he leads the team in runs scored with 26. Mariano Duncan’s average dropped to .295 but he leads the team in RBI with 21. Andy Pettite remains undefeated in eight starts with a 4-0 record and a 1.92 ERA. The '96 Yankees will battle with the 30-36 1958 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1958 Yankees cruised past the 1996 Yankees winning five of their six games to improve their record to 35-37. The '96 Yankees fell below .500 at 17-19.
The '58 Yankees won the first three games of the series by an astonishing 48-4 combined score. They won Game One 16-3; every player scored or drove in a run, led by Elston Howard who went 5-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. Whitey Ford pitched a two-hit shutout in a 6-0 win in Game Two. They won Game Three 26-1 on the strength of 25 hits. 15 of their runs were scored in the 9th inning alone. Mickey Mantle went 3-5 with five RBI. Yogi Berra went 3-6 with six RBI. The '96 Yankees got some revenge in Game Four, winning 12-0. Andy Pettitte pitched a four=hit shutout while the offense scored in seven out of nine innings. Paul O’Neill went 4-5 with a homerun and four RBI. The '58 Yankees won the final two games 8-3 and 5-2. Norm Siebern led the offense in Game Five with a 4-5, two double, homerun, three RBI performance.
Howard hit .367 with two homeruns and nine RBI in the series to raise his average to .335. Mantle hit .423 to raise his average to .254 with 46 runs scored to lead the team. Andy Carey leads the team in homers (16) and RBI (52) while hitting .248. Ford’s shutout improved his record to 5-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.67.
Mariano Duncan raised his average 10 points to .305 to lead the '96 Yankees along with 25 RBI. Bernie Williams hit his 10th homerun, but his average plummeted 35 points to .232. Pettitte is now 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA. The '96 Yankees will take on the 24-24 1947 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1947 Yankees beat the 1996 Yankees four out of six games to move their record two games over .500 at 28-26. The '96 Yankees fell to 19-23.
The '47 Yankees won the first three games of this series mainly because of pitching. Allie Reynolds and Spec Shea pitched back-to-back four hit shutouts in identical 4-0 wins. It took 11 innings for the ‘96 Yankees to win their first game of the series in Game Four. Bernie Williams’ RBI single in the 11th led them to a 4-3 win. Mike Aldrete broke open a close game in Game Five with a pinch-hit grand slam in the 8th for a 7-1 win. The final game was full of drama. George McQuinn hit a three-run homer off Mariano Rivera in the 8th to give the '47 Yankees a 4-3 lead. Tino Martinez answered with a solo homerun in the 9th off closer Joe Page, his second homer of the game, to send the game into extras. Tommy Henrich singled in Joe Dimaggio in the 11th for a walk-off 5-4 win.
Dimaggio leads the '47 Yankees in batting average at .296 and RBI with 35. McQuinn is hitting .293 and leads the team in homeruns (6) and runs scored (40). Reynolds leads the staff with a 7-2 record and a 2.12 ERA. Shea’s shutout reduced his ERA to 5.26.
Mariano Duncan’s average fell to .300, still best on the ‘96 Yankees; he also leads in RBI with 26. Bernie Williams’ average continued to fall to .213 with a team high in runs scored (30) and homers (10). Andy Pettitte picked up his first loss, but he is still 5-1 with a 2.16 ERA. Rivera’s ERA ballooned to 4.79. The '96 Yankees will battle the 25-23 2000 Yankees in the next series.
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The 2000 Yankees won four of their six games with the 1996 Yankees to improve their record to 29-25. The '96 Yankees dropped to 21-27.
The 2K Yankees won the first four games of this series that featured three grand slams and a no-hitter. In Game One, Derek Jeter was 2-4 with a Granny, six RBI, and three runs scored while leading the 2K Yankees to a 14-9 win. Chuck Knoblauch added a 5-6 performance at the plate with a double and three RBI. Mariano Duncan had six RBI in a losing cause while going 3-4 with three doubles. Andy Pettitte no-hit the '96 Yankees in Game Two for a 2-0 win. Knoblauch hit the second grand slam of the series in Game Four to cap off a six run fourth inning for a 7-4 win. The '96 Yankees won the final two games of the series. Wade Boggs went 5-5 with a double and and four RBI for a 8-2 win. Cecil Fielder blasted the third grand slam of the series in the final game, turning a 3-1 deficit in the 7th inning to a 5-3 lead on the way to a 6-4 win.
Knoblauch hit .478 in the series with seven RBI; he raised his overall average to .254. Jeter hit .320 to raise his team leading average to .290 along with 52 runs scored. David Justice leads the team in homeruns (14) and RBI (41) despite hitting just .210. Pettitte’s no no improved his record to 6-2 with a 2.70 ERA. Mariano Rivera picked up a couple of more saves to give him 15 for the season with a 1.88 ERA.
Duncan continues to lead the '96 Yankees in hitting at .293 and his seven RBI in the series gives him a team best 33 for the season. Bernie Williams leads the team in homeruns (10) and runs scored (34), despite hitting just .208. '96 Pettitte is not doing shabby either; he is now 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA. Dwight Gooden evened his record to 3-3 with a 2.36 ERA. The '96 Yankees will take on the 16-14 1932 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1932 Yankees won five of their six games against the 1996 Yankees to improve their record to 21-15. The '96 Yankees continued to drop further below .500 at 22-32.
The '32 Yankees won the first five games before dropping the finale 6-4. Game One went to extra innings; Frankie Crosetti’s RBI single in the 12th broke a 3-3 tie for a 4-3 win. They scored double figure run in three of the next four games, winning 14-4, 11-1, 5-2. and 14-6. Lou Gehrig had a monster Game Two, going 5-6 with three doubles, a triple, five RBI and three runs scored. In Game Three, Earle Combs went 4-5 with a double, triple, three RBI and two runs scored. In Game Five, Tony Lazzeri hit the cycle in five ABs with three runs scored and two RBI. Bill Dickey added a 2-4 performance with a HR and five RBI. The '96 won their only game when Bernie Williams hit a two-out two-run double to break a 4-4 tie in the 9th for a 6-4 win.
Tony Lazzeri hit .484 in the series to raise his team leading average to .380 with a 1.067 OPS. Ruth hit .462 with a couple more homeruns and eight RBI. He is now hitting .377 overall with 18 homeruns, 43 RBI, and a 1.311 OPS. Gehrig still only has one homerun on the season, but like Ruth, he hit .462 in the series to raise his average to .321 and netted 10 RBI to give him 26 overall. Red Ruffing picked up his fifth win and a save in the series. George Pipgras improved his record to 6-1 with a 3.06 ERA.
Mariano Duncan continues to stay steady at the plate for the '96 Yankees at .293 with 35 RBI. Andy Pettitte picked up the team’s only win of the series to move him to 6-2 with a 2.25 ERA. The '96 Yankees will face off with the 26-22 1999 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1996 Yankees rebounded from their terrible series with the 1932 Yankees by taking five out of six from the 1999 Yankees to improve their record to 27-33. The '99 Yankees dropped back to .500 at 27-27.
The '96 Yankees got their offense cranking early as they scored 12 runs in two of the first three games. They won Game One 12-3 on the strength of Bernie Williams who went 3-5 with two homeruns, three RBI and four runs scored and Mariano Duncan who went 4-5 with a double, homer, four RBI and three runs scored. After Jimmy Key pitched a five-hit shutout in a 4-0 win in Game Two, the '96 Yankees won their third straight 12-10 in 10 innings in a game that was wild beyond belief. The '96 Yankees led 10-0 after two innings. The '99 Yankees came all the way back with one run in the fourth inning, five in the eighth, and four in the ninth. '99 Williams capped off the four run rally with a three run dinger to send it to extras. '96 Williams, who was 4-5 in the contest hit a walk-off two run blast, giving him five RBI and end the game in the 10th. The '99 Yankees picked up their only win of the series in Game Five 4-3 in 11 innings on a walk-off single by Derek Jeter.
'96 Williams hit .393 in the series with three homeruns and nine RBI to raise his overall average to .228 with a team leading 14 homeruns 35 RBI, and a team leading 41 runs scored. Duncan hit .414 in the series with two homeruns and nine RBI to raise his team leading average to .306 with a team high 43 RBI. To show how poorly Key’s season has gone, his shutout improved his record to 4-6 with a 7.36 ERA. John Wetteland now has 11 saves with a 2.36 ERA.
Jeter leads the '99 Yankees in hitting at .316. Williams leads the team in homeruns (16) and RBI (50) while hitting .286. El Duque, Orlando Hernandez lost both of his starts to drop his record to 7-4 with a 2.75 ERA. The '99 Yankees will take on the 27-21 1937 Yankees in the next series.
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After dropping three of the first four games, the 1999 Yankees rallied to a six game split with the 1937 Yankees by winning the final two games. The '99 Yankees remain even at 30-30 while the '37 Yankees stay four games over .500 at 30-24.
The '37 Yankees cruised to a 8-2 win in Game One; they earned 10 walks, two of them forcing in runs. The '99 Yankees evened the series in Game Two in dramatic fashion. Bernie Williams hit a two-out three-run walk-off homerun off closer Johnny Murphy for a come-from-behind 4-2 win. The '37 Yankees won the next two games 4-0 and 10-4. Bump Hadley pitched a four-hit shutout in Game Three. The '99 Yankees won the final two games 9-5 and 11-6. Paul O’Neill hit the cycle in the final game while going 4-5 with four RBI.
Lou Gehrig leads the '37 Yankees in hitting at .349 and runs scored with 57 while adding 18 homeruns and 45 RBI. Joe Dimaggio is hitting .274 and leads the team in homers (19) and RBI (61). Hadley’s shutout improved his record to 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA.
O’Neill hit .520 in the series with nine RBI to increase his team-leading average to .336. Williams raised his average to .291 with 18 homeruns and 57 RBI, both team highs. El Duque bettered his record to 8-4 with 2.91 ERA. The '99 Yankees will battle with the 17-13 1961 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1999 Yankees beat the 1961 Yankees four out of six games in their series to go back over .500 at 34-32. The '61 Yankees fell to 19-17.
This series went back-and-forth. After the '61 Yankees won the first game 6-4, the '99 Yankees blasted their way to a 18-3 win in Game Two. They massed 20 hits, including four homeruns. Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Paul O’Neill all drove in four RBIs. Game Three was an epic back-and-forth affair. The '99 Yankees took and early 2-0 lead on a Tino Martinez homer. He would hit another homer after the '61 Yankees tied the game to build a 5-2 lead. Mickey Mantle tied the game on a three-run homer. The '61 Yankees took an 8-6 lead going into the 8th. The '99 Yankees came back to win 9-8 on a walk-off two run single by Ricky Ledee in the 9th. The '61 Yankees evened the series in Game Four 7-5 after trailing 5-0. The '99 Yankees took Game Five 6-4. David Cone struck out 10 batters in seven innings. The '99 Yankees clinched the series in the final game 2-1 in 10 innings, a game where all the runs were scored on homeruns. Yogi Berra gave the '61 Yankees a 1-0 lead. WIlliams tied the game with a tater of his own. Scott Brosius hit the go-ahead homerun in the 10th for the win.
O’Neill hit .375 with five RBI in the series. He leads the team in hitting at .338. Chuck Knoblauch leads the team in runs scored with 52 despite hitting only .210. Williams hit .391 in the series with two homeruns and five RBI. He raised his average to .300 and leads the team in homeruns with 20 and RBI with 62. Mariano Rivera picked up a couple of saves to give him 16 for the season with a 2.40 ERA.
Elston Howard leads the '61 Yankees in hitting at .361. Mantle is hitting .318 while leading the team in homeruns (16), runs scored (35) and RBI (35). Whitey Ford is 4-2 with a 2.95 ERA. The '61 Yankees will take on the 27-33 1996 Yankees in the next series.
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The 1996 Yankees beat the 1961 Yankees four out of six games in their series to improve their overall record to 31-35. The '61 Yankees dropped back to .500 at 21-21.
The '96 Yankees took the first three games on the road. They brought out the bats in Game One, winning a 10-6 slugfest. Mariano Duncan went 3-5 with a double and five RBI while Darryl Strawberry hit two homeruns. Strawberry and Tino Martinez hit solo homeruns in Game Three which turned out to be all they needed in a 2-1 win. The '61 Yankees won the next two games in which they scored 10 runs each time. In their 10-4 Game Five win, Bill Skowron hit two homeruns, including a first inning grand slam and drove in five RBI. The '96 Yankees clinched the series with a 8-1 blowout.
Duncan had 11 RBI in the series for the '96 Yankees to give him 54 for the season while hitting .305. Strawberry now has 10 homeruns, second only to Bernie Williams who has 15. Andy Pettitte won his two starts to improve his record to 8-2 with a 2.44 ERA.
Skowron hit .333 in the series with four dingers and eight RBI to raise his overall average to .299 with 13 homeruns and 35 RBI. Ralph Terry got bombed in both of his starts to fall to 2-6 with a 4.77 ERA. The '61 Yankees will face off with the 32-34 1962 Yankees in the next series.